SpringerLink
Log in

From Awkwardness to Action Christian Voluntarism in Denmark Beyond the Sector Model of Civil Society

  • Published:
International Journal of Politics, Culture, and Society Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

The article challenges the theoretical “sectoral model” of civil society through a historical case study and offers an alternative actor-centered approach inspired by American pragmatism. First, three separate strands of research are identified that each conceptualize civil society as a sector with institutional independence, a single normative logic, and fixed roles. Building on archival material on the Danish temperance organization the Blue Cross, the article then compares the theory to the empirical case. It is argued that the CSO exposes three types of “awkwardness” in the sector model, as the Blue Cross (1) de-differentiated and became part of the public system of treatment for alcoholism, (2) applied multiple logics depending on the audience it addressed, and (3) acted in the role of “interpreter” rather than “antenna”—and specifically interpreted the needs of alcoholics in mutual understanding with state authorities. Finally, an alternative approach to the study of CSOs is proposed: a historically sensitive approach that differently from an ahistorical model analyzes collective actors historically, affirmatively, and situationally through their application of contentious and non-contentious repertoires of civic action.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Subscribe and save

Springer+ Basic
EUR 32.99 /Month
  • Get 10 units per month
  • Download Article/Chapter or Ebook
  • 1 Unit = 1 Article or 1 Chapter
  • Cancel anytime
Subscribe now

Buy Now

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Fig. 1
Fig. 2

Similar content being viewed by others

Notes

  1. It has been suggested that certain social movements are “awkward” to many researchers, since they do not fit the established view of what a movement “ought to be,” e.g., terrorist movements or religious conservative movements (Polletta 2006).

  2. Association of Voluntary Action Scholars

  3. Association for Research on Nonprofit Organizations and Voluntary Action

  4. John Keane’s work also stems from the circles of Cohen and Arato (Keane 1988)—controversially so, if we are to believe Arato (Arato 1989).

  5. In this way, I follow a trend where historical sociologists are increasingly heading to the archives (Adams et al. 2005, p. 26).

  6. Sevelsted (2019) deals explicitly with the Blue Cross’ involvement in the emergence of “illiberal” policies in Denmark.

  7. Blue Cross Denmark annual report 2017 and https://www.blaakors.dk/om/om-blaa-kors.

  8. Habermas admits as much (Habermas 1984).

  9. Habermas (2003, pp. 307–342)

  10. I am somewhat overstating my point here. Habermas does seek to avoid teleology through a complicated understanding of how historical evolution can be reconstructed, but not causally described (Habermas 1975). The overall process, however, does in hindsight look suspiciously teleological.

  11. For the sake of completeness, it should be noted that collective civic action can also be what you might call “un-contentious,” i.e., where the CSO becomes a mere service provider operating on the market or for the state.

References

  • Adams, J., Clemens, E. S., & Orloff, A. S. (Eds.). (2005). Remaking modernity: politics, history, and sociology. Durham: Duke University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Anheier, H., & Knapp, M. (1990). Voluntas: an editorial statement. Voluntas: International Journal of Voluntary and Nonprofit Organizations, 1(1), 1–12.

    Google Scholar 

  • Arato, A. (1981). Civil society against the state: Poland 1980-81. Telos, 1981(47), 23–47.

    Google Scholar 

  • Arato, A. (1989). Civil society, history and socialism: reply to John Keane. Praxis International, 9(1+2), 133–151.

    Google Scholar 

  • Arato, A., & Cohen, J. L. (1988). Civil society and social theory. Thesis Eleven, 21(1), 40–64.

    Google Scholar 

  • Banke, C. F. S. (1999). Den sociale ingeniørkunst i Danmark: Familie, stat og politik fra 1900 til 1945: Ph.d.-afhandling. Roskilde: Institut for Historie og Samfundsforhold, Roskilde Universitetscenter.

  • Benford, R. D., & Snow, D. A. (2000). Framing processes and social movements: an overview and assessment. Annual Review of Sociology, 26, 611–639.

    Google Scholar 

  • Beveridge, W. (1948). Voluntary action: a report on method of social advance. London: Routledge.

    Google Scholar 

  • Blå, K. (2015). +120—Blå Kors 120 år i Danmark. Blå Kors: Silkeborg.

    Google Scholar 

  • Bundesen, P., Henriksen, L. S., & Jørgensen, A. (2001). Filantropi, selvhjælp og interesseorganisering: Frivillige organisationer i dansk socialpolitik 1849–1990’erne. Odense: Odense Universitetsforlag.

    Google Scholar 

  • Celik, T. H. (2017). Tension-filled governance?: Exploring the emergence, consolidation and reconfiguration of legitimatory and fiscal state-crafting. Frederiksberg: Copenhagen Business School.

    Google Scholar 

  • Christensen, C. (1918). Udenlands. Det Blå Kors.

  • Cohen, J. L. (1983). Rethinking social movements. Berkeley Journal of Sociology, 28, 97–113.

    Google Scholar 

  • Cohen, J. L., & Arato, A. (1992). Civil society and political theory (1st ed.). Cambridge: The MIT Press.

  • Dahl, H. (1933). Livets Skole. Det Blå Kors.

  • Dahl, H. (1936). Mors Dreng. Det Blå Kors.

  • Dewey, J. (1939). Theory of valuation. In International Encyclopedia of Unified Science, Volume II, Number 4 (Vol. 2, pp. 1–66). Chicago, ill: The University of Chicago press.

  • Dikötter, F. (1998). Race culture: recent perspectives on the history of eugenics. The American Historical Review, 103(2), 467–478.

    Google Scholar 

  • Durkheim, É. (2008). In M. S. Cladis, C. Cosman, & Trans (Eds.), The elementary forms of religious life. Oxford: Oxford University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Elias, N. (1997). Towards a theory of social processes: a translation (R. van Krieken & E. dunning, trans.). The British Journal of Sociology, 48(3), 355.

    Google Scholar 

  • Eriksen, S. (1988). Vækkelse og afholdsbevægelse. Scandia: Tidsskrift För Historisk Forskning, 54(2), 251–295.

    Google Scholar 

  • Eriksen, S. (2007). From gold cure to Antabuse: Danish treatment traditions in a liberal drinking culture. In K. Stenius (Ed.), On the margins: Nordic alcohol and drug treatment 1885–2007 (pp. 48–74). Helsinki: NAD.

    Google Scholar 

  • Es**-Andersen, G. (1990). The three worlds of welfare capitalism. Princeton: Princeton University press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Flyvbjerg, B. (2006). Five misunderstandings about case-study research. Qualitative Inquiry, 12(2), 219–245.

    Google Scholar 

  • Folmann, E. (1938). Familien Hammer. Det Blå Kors.

  • Garboe, A. (1934). Landsbypigen. En Skildring fra det virkelige Liv. Det Blå Kors.

  • Granum-Jensen, A. R. (1979). Baggrund og glimt fra Blå Kors’ historie i 100 år. Silkeborg: Blå Kors.

    Google Scholar 

  • Gross, N. (2009). A pragmatist theory of social mechanisms. American Sociological Review, 74(3), 358–379.

    Google Scholar 

  • Habermas, J. (1975). Towards a reconstruction of historical materialism. Theory and Society, 2(3), 287–300 Retrieved from JSTOR.

    Google Scholar 

  • Habermas, J. (1984). In T. MacCarthy & Trans (Eds.), Lifeworld and system: a critique of functionalist reason. Boston: Beacon Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Habermas, J. (1985a). In T. MacCarthy & Trans (Eds.), Lifeworld and system: a critique of functionalist reason. Boston: Beacon.

    Google Scholar 

  • Habermas, J. (1985b). In T. MacCarthy & Trans (Eds.), The theory of communicative action vol 1: reason and the rationalization of society. Boston: Beacon Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Habermas, J. (2001). Between facts and norms: contributions to a discourse theory of law and democracy (1 MIT press paperback ed., 4. Printing; W. Rehg, trans.). Cambridge, Mass.: MIT press.

  • Habermas, J. (2003). In M. Cooke & Trans (Eds.), On the pragmatics of communication. Oxford: Polity.

    Google Scholar 

  • Hall, P. D. (1992). Inventing the nonprofit sector and other essays on philanthropy, voluntarism, and nonprofit organizations. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins Univ. press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Honneth, A., & Joas, H. (Eds.). (1991). Communicative action: essays on Jürgen Habermas’s the theory of communicative action (1st MIT Press ed.). Cambridge, Mass: MIT Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Joas, H. (1996). The creativity of action. Chicago, Ill: The University of Chicago Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Joas, H. (2000). The genesis of values. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Joas, H. (2013). The sacredness of the person: a new genealogy of human rights. Washington: Georgetown University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Joas, H. (2017). Die Macht des Heiligen: Eine Alternative zur Geschichte von der Entzauberung (Erste Auflage ed.). Berlin: Suhrkamp.

    Google Scholar 

  • Keane, J. (1988). Democracy and civil society: on the predicaments of European socialism, the prospects for democracy, and the problem of controlling social and political power. In London. New York: Verso.

    Google Scholar 

  • Koch, L. (1996). Racehygiejne i Danmark 1920–56. Copenhagen: Gyldendal.

    Google Scholar 

  • Koch, L. (2000). Tvangssterilisation i Danmark 1929–67. København: Gyldendal.

    Google Scholar 

  • Kocka, J. (2004a). Civil society from a historical perspective. European Review, 12(1), 65–79 Retrieved from Cambridge Core.

    Google Scholar 

  • Kocka, J. (2004b). Zivilgesellschaft in historischer Perspektive. In Jessen, R., Reichardt, S.& Klein, A. (Eds.), Zivilgesellschaft als Geschichte (pp. 29–42). VS Verlag für Sozialwissenschaften.

  • Kocka, J. (2010). Civil society and dictatorship in modern German history. Hanover: Published by University Press of new England.

    Google Scholar 

  • Koselleck, R. (2004). In K. Tribe & Trans (Eds.), Futures past: on the semantics of historical time. New York: Columbia University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Leth, M. (1910). Ved Gudenaa. Det Blå Kors.

  • Leth, M. (1915). Et Firkløver. Det Blå Kors.

  • Leth, M. (1928). Livets Kompas. Det Blå Kors.

  • Lichterman, P., & Eliasoph, N. (2014). Civic action. The American Journal of Sociology, 120(3), 798–863.

    Google Scholar 

  • Nielsen, M. Th. (1938). Holger Borgstrøm—Et ungdomsliv. Det Blaa Kors Forlag.

  • Polletta, F. (2006). Mobilization forum: awkward movements. Mobilization: An International Quarterly, 11(4), 475–500.

    Google Scholar 

  • Putnam, R. D. (1995). Bowling alone: America’s declining social capital. Journal of Democracy, 6(1), 65–78.

    Google Scholar 

  • Putnam, R. D. (2000). Bowling alone: the collapse and revival of American community. New York: Simon & Schuster.

    Google Scholar 

  • Rasmussen, M. (1921). Den Skyldige. Det Blå Kors.

  • Rasmussen, M. (1923). Værtshusholderens Peter. Det Blå Kors.

  • Riegel, R. E. (1968). Changing American attitudes toward prostitution (1800-1920). Journal of the History of Ideas, 29(3), 437–452.

    Google Scholar 

  • Salamon, L. M. (1987). Of market failure, voluntary failure, and third-party government: toward a theory of government-nonprofit relations in the modern welfare state. Nonprofit and Voluntary Sector Quarterly, 16(1–2), 29–49.

    Google Scholar 

  • Salamon, L. M. (1989). The voluntary sector and the future of the welfare state. Nonprofit and Voluntary Sector Quarterly, 18(1), 11–24.

    Google Scholar 

  • Salamon, L. M., & Sokolowski, S. W. (2016). Beyond nonprofits: re-conceptualizing the third sector. Voluntas: International Journal of Voluntary and Nonprofit Organizations, 27(4), 1515–1545.

    Google Scholar 

  • Schädler Andersen, L. (2008). Folkekirkens entreprenører: Striden om Det københavnske Kirkefond 1896-1907. Historie, 2008(1), 35–86.

    Google Scholar 

  • Sevelsted, A. (2019). Degeneration, protestantism, and social democracy: the case of alcoholism and “illiberal” policies and practices in Denmark 1900–43. Social Science History, 43(1), 87–111.

    Google Scholar 

  • Sewell, W. H. (1996). Historical events as transformations of structures: inventing revolution at the bastille. Theory and Society, 25(6), 841–881.

    Google Scholar 

  • Skocpol, T. (2001). Das bürgergesellschaftliche Amerika—Gestern und heute. In R. D. Putnam (Ed.), Gesellschaft und Gemeinsinn (pp. 593–654). Gütersloh: Verlag Bertelsmann Stiftung.

    Google Scholar 

  • Skocpol, T. (2004). Diminished democracy: from membership to management in American civic life (1. Paperback publ). Norman: Univ. of Oklahoma press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Skocpol, T., Ganz, M., & Munson, Z. (2000). A nation of organizers: the institutional origins of civic voluntarism in the United States. The American Political Science Review, 94(3), 527–546.

    Google Scholar 

  • Smith, D. H. (1972). Major analytical topics of voluntary action theory and research: version 2. Nonprofit and Voluntary Sector Quarterly, 1(1), 6–19.

    Google Scholar 

  • Smith, D. H. (2003). A history of ARNOVA. Nonprofit and Voluntary Sector Quarterly, 32(3), 458–472.

    Google Scholar 

  • Smith, D. H. (2013). Growth of research associations and journals in the emerging discipline of altruistics. Nonprofit and Voluntary Sector Quarterly, 42, 638–656.

    Google Scholar 

  • Snow, D. A., & Benford, R. D. (1988). Ideology, frame resonance, and participant mobilization. International Social Movement Research, 1(1), 197–217.

    Google Scholar 

  • Snow, D. A., Rochford, E. B., Worden, S. K., & Benford, R. D. (1986). Frame alignment processes, micromobilization, and movement participation. American Sociological Review, 51(4), 464–481.

    Google Scholar 

  • Sobriety Commission report. (1907). Betænkning afgiven af den af Indenrigsministeriet den 25. Juni 1903 nedsatte Kommission til overvejelse af Foranstaltninger til Ædruelighedens Fremme.

  • Somers, M. R. (1993). Citizenship and the place of the public sphere: law, community, and political culture in the transition to democracy. American Sociological Review, 58(5), 587–620.

    Google Scholar 

  • Steincke, K. K. (1933). Socialreformen: En kortfattet Oversigt. Fremad.

  • Thompson, E. P. (1971). The moral economy of the English crowd in the eighteenth century. Past & Present, 50, 76–136.

    Google Scholar 

  • Thorsen, T. (1993). Dansk alkoholpolitik efter 1950. Holte: Socpol.

    Google Scholar 

  • Tilly, C. (1993). Contentious repertoires in Great Britain, 1758-1834. Social Science History, 17(2), 253–280.

    Google Scholar 

  • Vaughan, D. (1992). Theory elaboration: the heuristics of case analysis. In C. C. Ragin & H. S. Becker (Eds.), What is a case?: Exploring the foundations of social inquiry (pp. 173–202). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Wright, E. O. (2011). The “triadic” model of society in Somers’ genealogies of citizenship. Socio-Economic Review, 9, 405–418.

    Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Management, Politics and Philosophy, Copenhagen Business School, Porcelaenshaven 18a, 2000, Frederiksberg, Denmark

    Anders Sevelsted

  2. School of Social Work, Lund University, Lund, Sweden

    Anders Sevelsted

Authors
  1. Anders Sevelsted
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Anders Sevelsted.

Additional information

Publisher’s Note

Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Sevelsted, A. From Awkwardness to Action Christian Voluntarism in Denmark Beyond the Sector Model of Civil Society. Int J Polit Cult Soc 34, 191–215 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10767-020-09378-0

Download citation

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10767-020-09378-0

Keywords

Search

Navigation